Eye Tricks

Disappearing Confetti Illusion

No, we're not having a party, but it may appear so! Here are three different versions of the same eye trick that we just created exclusively for coolopticalillusions.com. Here's what you should do: Stare at the center block for about 30 seconds in each of the following pictures. Don't move your eyes. What you'll notice is that the confetti will start to disappear, piece by piece.

Now to really get you thinking, which of the following illusions will actually work the best? We'll put our answer at the bottom, but try it for yourself first!!

Okay, have you stared at all three of the pictures? Have you decided which one seemed to be the strongest illusion? Well, there are a couple things at play in this illusion:

1) Your brain can only keep so many objects in working memory, and if it isn't moving, you don't see it as a threat so it kind of "goes to the back of your mind"

2) Since you're staring at the same place, the cells in your eyes that are transmitting the information to your brain keep firing the same information. Eventually, they get "worn out" and so that's why you see a bit of an afterimage, which blends in with the gray.

Did you see the other truck illusion pictures I posted a few days ago?